Adulting is hard from working, to taking care of your body, meditating, eating right, socializing with friends, taking care of kids(if you have kids) all while staying sane. It’s a lot to handle. So how do you maintain a healthy work life balance? More often than not working tends to take precedence in our life and we may sometimes forget about our wellness and family.
So how can you create a harmonious work life balance? Can we really have it all? Here are some tips and tricks on how to maintain a better work life balance:
Manage your time
Set and prioritize your goals then dedicate time to each goal according to priority. You don’t need 50 things on your to do list. You need to create a reasonable to do list. Fitting everything in 24 hours may not be possible. Start your day early, waking up early helps you focus on yourself or on projects you have not completed yet.
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Set Boundaries
Set your boundaries at your workplace and with your workmates to avoid burnout. Let your colleagues know they can only contact you past certain hours if only it’s an emergency. When you leave the office or if you’re working from home, set a certain time where you stop working. Stop thinking about work projects or things you haven’t done. This will greatly improve your work life balance.
Create “Me” Time
Don’t forget to focus on yourself, you may create time for your family, friends and work and neglect yourself. Me time is very important, it allows us to reboot our brains and helps increase productivity. You have to first fill your cup because you can’t pour from an empty cup.
We need to do a better job of putting ourselves higher on our own To Do list
Michelle Obama
Create family time
Make time for your family. While your job is important it should not be your whole life. You should plan family time in your calendar, no matter how hectic your calendar may be, always make sure you create time for your family. You need to realize that no organization will love and appreciate you as much as your family does.
When you’re gone, would you rather have your gravestone say, ‘He never missed a meeting’? Or one that said, ‘He was a great father’.
STEVE BLANK
Socialize
Make time for your friends and hobbies outside of work. Don’t just socialize during weekends, try and socialize during the week as well. Sometimes you can even attend the work mixers just to kill 2 birds with one stone. You’re relaxing while at work. This will help you relax and reenergize.
Work out
While this may often seem far fetched when you have to create me time, family time, work time. Working out renews your energy and helps increase focus. You can create time for working out at least 3 times a week and you will start seeing the results. Your productivity will increase.
Vacation
Make a plan to go on vacation at least once or twice a year. On vacation you completely unplug from work, make sure you do not carry your laptop and you inform your boss you will be unreachable and to delegate tasks to someone else. If you don’t have the money to go to Bora Bora or Paris, you can always have a staycation.
Prioritize your goals and stick to them
Structure your day to increase productivity. Know when you’re the most productive at work and dedicate your heavy and involving projects. Stop multitasking at work, focus on one goal at a time, this will ensure you complete your projects on time. Prioritizing and setting goals allows you to have more free time.
Work smart not hard
People tend to focus too much on the hours put in at work instead of the productivity. If you prioritize your goals and have a work schedule around it you can spend less hours at work and still be productive. Stop attending the unproductive meetings that tend to be long and mentally exhausting. Work smart not long and hard. This will ensure you maintain a work life balance.
Find a job you love
If you hate your job, you’re not going to be happy both at home and at work. You will always be exhausted because you’re doing something that is draining you mentally. You do not need to love everything about your job but it has to have some exciting aspects. If you’re working in a toxic environment or with a toxic job or a job you don’t like you might want to start looking for another job.
Working hard for something we don’t care about is called stress. Working hard for something we love is called passion
simon sinek
ALSO READ: How to cope with a boss that hates you
While there may be no perfect work life balance, sometimes you may have more time for family and others you may have to work some extra hours at work. The point is to maintain a healthy work life balance.